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by WILL FOLKS
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South Carolina lieutenant governor Pamela Evette formally entered a crowded race for governor of the Palmetto State on Monday (July 14, 2025).
The 57-year-old Ohio native – who has spent the last six-and-a-half years as status quo governor Henry McMaster‘s No. 2 – launched her bid to succeed him via a bizarre 69-second video in which she didn’t say a word (and in which no specific policies were offered up on her behalf).
Instead, Evette’s “announcement” featured alternating clips of McMaster and president Donald Trump dispensing generic praise for her as a head-scratching – and headache-inducing – techno beat pulsated in the background.
“Let’s stand up and keep South Carolina great!” Evette said in a message accompanying the rave, errr… announcement.
At one point in the clip, Evette’s eyes assumed a red, robotic form – like some sort of angry disco Terminator about to burn holes through the screen.
“Did Pam Evette’s team drop acid before designing that campaign ad?” one Upstate politico mused.
We’ll let you be the judge…
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Laser eyes notwithstanding, Evette’s pitch revolves around her tenure as the leader of Quality Business Solutions – a national payroll and human resources firm launched in 2005 with her husband in Travelers Rest, S.C. As our Dylan Nolan reported earlier this year, Evette said frustration with over-regulation and its impact on business productivity is what first drove her to seek elected office.
“Every day was helping small businesses grow, and making sure that they could navigate through regulations that were just hard to navigate through sometimes,” she told a group of GOP voters last month.
Early polling in this race (with one notable exception) has shown Evette trailing attorney general Alan Wilson and U.S. congresswoman Nancy Mace – the two perceived frontrunners in this race – by wide margins. Her key to relevancy? Receiving the imprimatur of Trump, something she has reportedly assured key donors is in the bag.
Others are less certain about her braggadocio…
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Evette is the third candidate to formally enter the race following Wilson and S.C. senator Josh Kimbrell (although Kimbrell’s candidacy has since encountered some choppy waters). U.S. congressman Ralph Norman is expected to announce his candidacy in two weeks time.
As for Mace? The timing of her expected entry into the contest remains a mystery.
While Evette’s lofty perch in the state’s executive branch would seem to benefit her, lieutenant governors have had a difficult time getting elected governor in South Carolina in recent years. In fact, it hasn’t happened since 1970, when Democrat John West defeated congressman Albert Watson to claim the governorship.
McMaster was independently elected in 2018 and 2022, although he previously ascended to the governor’s office when Nikki Haley resigned to take a position in Trump’s first administration. He tapped Evette to be his running mate during the 2018 cycle, meaning the upcoming GOP primary race would be her first time on the ballot by herself.
The primary election is scheduled for June 9, 2026. Count on FITSNews to keep tabs on this field as it develops…
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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9 comments
Nope. We don’t need Henry’s silent lapdog and resident airhead, Pam Evette in the Governor’s Mansion. We really don’t have any great choices so far in this race, but she is not it. If she approved that ad, you have all the proof you need that we can do better. At least I hope we can.
Just not Abnormal Norman. Ralphie has spent almost two decades in the SC House of Representatives or US House of Representatives and done NOTHING!!! NOTHING!!! Daddy did it all and now he wants to try and buy the governor’s office bc he sucks as a politician. Ralph Never Passed One Damn Bill. SC doesn’t need a governor no one wants to work with. Hell, a four year old can stand around and say, “NO.” That’s it! That’s all he’s done. SC needs answers to problems and someone to bring people together. That ain’t Ralphie.
I thought her announcement in
Greenville was great, it just looks like she went with a hip Ad, big deal. And red eyes that opponents may screenshot and put on there ads like shes a villan but God don’t turn her away if there’s a chance she’s for at least medical marijuana. The old guard is done, south carolina can stay south carolina but I hope she’s not the governors lapdog, hopefully she can bring changes.
I for one am excited for her announcement I think South Carolina is due for a Matriarch. I think she sounds confident to run a campaign on her ideas.
We had a matriarch from 2011 thru about 2017. She made a damn mess out of everything. We don’t need another one. Male politicians are mostly scum. I would not argue that they aren’t. Female politicians take love of self, greed, and hunger for power, to levels the males never dreamed of.
David, are you the guy who was charged in February 2024 with threatening a judge? Your writing sounds like that level of crazy.
I’m just supporting the Governor could bes, changing my style of writing to a more positive vibe. Leaving some nice comments. I thought Alan Wilson gave a good interview as well.
I certainly am not endorsing any candidate.
Can we get at least one decent choice for Governor?
There will probably be one, but he/she will have (D) next to their name and people won’t vote for them.
Trump will most definitely endorse Evette if Ralphie enters the race. Wilson did nothing as AG, he didn’t even have the ability to prosecute the most high profile case his office handled. As for Mace and Kimbrell , I won’t even comment